Pressuring the people to pressure the politicians about our national debt
First came the New Year’s tax increases of the “fiscal cliff.” Last week, the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration took effect. Still, Congress will spend much of March negotiating a deal to fund the federal government for the next six months — a deal that, in all likelihood, will mean borrowing hundreds of billions of dollars more.
Lurching from one crisis to the next, however real or contrived each one may be, has not put the country on a more solid, sustainable fiscal path. That’s where Maya MacGuineas comes in.
“We actually know for the most part what the parameters of a fix are,” MacGuineas, head of the bipartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, told me during a stop in Atlanta two weeks ago. “You know that you’re going to have to look at all parts of the budget.
“You know that a key challenge here is reforming our entitlement programs, as aging and health care are driving the debt, and that … we can reform entitlement programs in ways that are true to protecting people who depend on them — if we get ahead of it.”
True to CRFB’s bipartisan credentials, MacGuineas doesn’t put all the emphasis on the spending side. She also points to the $1 trillion in annual “tax expenditures,” subsidies hidden in the tax code rather than appropriations bills.
“Nobody looks at them,” she said. “These spending programs, dressed up as tax cuts — many of which are not working, many of which are de-leveling the playing field instead of allowing for a functioning economic system, all of which are draining the Treasury — need to be part of that evaluation too.”
So, how do we get politicians to do something they seemingly don’t want to do? One step is for everyone to acknowledge the immediacy of the problem.
“It really concerns me,” MacGuineas said, to hear “the argument, ‘Look at the [interest] rate environment. Why would we want to focus on the deficit? What we should be doing is borrowing more.’ That’s what people who give you credit-card teaser rates say also, to hook you in.”
Government debt that isn’t repaid on time — i.e., virtually all of it — must be refinanced later, almost certainly at higher interest rates. Just a 1-percentage-point increase in interest rates, MacGuineas said, could mean at least $1.3 trillion more in interest payments over the following decade.
“That’s the amount the super-committee [created by the 2011 debt-ceiling deal] failed to find in savings,” leading to the sequester cuts, she pointed out.
Another way is to point out the glaring flaws of proposals on the table.
“I give Paul Ryan credit for putting out a budget that shows how he would do it with spending cuts only,” MacGuineas said, “but don’t forget that budget includes a bunch of Medicare savings he said he opposed during the [2012 presidential] race.”
President Barack Obama’s budgets have their own problems, she said: “One year, he talked about 12-year budgets compared to other people’s 10-year numbers. The next year he counted war savings [after previously announcing the end of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan], which is really a gimmick.”
MacGuineas said voters “bear a huge responsibility” for continuing to “elect people with a bunch of promises that just are not workable, but they sound good.” That said, she insisted voters “should be able to trust their elected leaders to lead an honest discussion about it. … And that’s not happening.”
She also hopes that if others, such as herself, force that honest discussion upon the country, it will change the political incentives that affect taxing and spending.
“I think what happens in discussions is there are tipping points. And I think if you have enough people talking about this, you have the next ‘Ross Perot moment,’ where it goes from everybody promising fiscal giveaways to, suddenly, we the voters demand they tell us how they’d fix it. And once it gets to that point, then you know that somebody selling you the easy way out isn’t telling the truth, and then it becomes politically more important to have a fix.”
– By Kyle Wingfield
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467 comments Add your comment
NoBodyYouKnow
March 7th, 2013
6:01 pm
BLA,BLA,BLA, those damn “cons”. BLA, BLA, BLA, those damn ‘LIBERALS”. on and on untill we all fall in a large HOLE, like that poor man in Flordia.
curious
March 7th, 2013
6:20 pm
Tiberius – pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
“And I’m still waiting for that news item regarding any airliner hijacked by American citizens that was shot down by an F-16 via Presidential order.”
That scenario is about as hpothetical as drone strikes aginst US citizens in the US that haven’t happened. At the time there was no certainity about the citizenship of the hijackers and you would probably agree that any aircraft approaching DC after the Pentagon strike would probably have been shot down.
yuzeyurbrane
March 7th, 2013
6:25 pm
Nice cliche’. Where is her proof that aging is driving the national debt? There is none.
td
March 7th, 2013
6:37 pm
NoBodyYouKnow
March 7th, 2013
6:01 pm
You have been on hear whining like a baby all afternoon about the Conservative agenda or the Progressive agenda. At least the two sides have a philosophy to guide them. I have a great deal more respect for the progressives on this board then I do you because you are so uninformed that you do not have a clue.
Rafe Hollister
March 7th, 2013
7:03 pm
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/03/07/officials-80-percent-of-recent-nyc-high-school-graduates-cannot-read/
Where is Fineesy? I thought the Blue States were something we should try to emulate. I think in Georgia at least 40% of HS graduates can read.
Bruno
March 7th, 2013
7:05 pm
Well damn, that was a lot of arguing today!!
And now for something to cool everyone down:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wy6opyiOfNA
Rafe Hollister
March 7th, 2013
7:11 pm
And you know this because:
AG
It was in a video I saw on Utube! (worked for Obama)
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 7th, 2013
7:14 pm
The storm marched into the Mid-Atlantic region Wednesday, dumping nearly two feet of snow in parts of Virginia and West Virginia and knocking out power to about 250,000 homes and businesses. It largely spared the nation’s capital, which was expecting much worse and had all but shut down.
You got that? Home of the Weather Experts, the very people who can predict what will happen fifty years from now if we don’t repent and cast off the industrial age? And they can’t even predict whether they’ll get snow in the Kremlin or not?
My, aren’t we impressed.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 7th, 2013
7:20 pm
Officials: 80 Percent Of Recent NYC High School Graduates Cannot Read
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2013/03/07/officials-80-percent-of-recent-nyc-high-school-graduates-cannot-read/
Now remember, this is one of the “smart” liberal states.
And my guess is, they’ve been cooking their test scores.
Georgia moves up another notch!
Hillbilly D
March 7th, 2013
7:22 pm
Bruno @ 7:05
Nice selection.
another thing we learned today is the Falcons can get pretty much anything they want from the City of Atlanta and the State
Money talks, BS walks and the rich keep getting richer. A good gig if you can get it, I guess.
Aquagirl
March 7th, 2013
7:30 pm
It was in a video I saw on Utube!
Ok, I’ll admit to a lol on that one….uhhhhhh….youtube!
Actually most plans that don’t pay for them as contraception will give you a waiver, but the process sounds like insurance hell. Imagine trying to get your junk permitted down at Atlanta City Hall and maybe you have an idea.
Bruno
March 7th, 2013
8:18 pm
HD–Here’s a really cool track by Stevie from his 1977 solo album:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBGKgc-mpuI
Bruno
March 7th, 2013
8:26 pm
For the one who will always have my heart:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AIyX8jrd8jM
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right
March 7th, 2013
8:27 pm
So Aquagirl, is it a requirement of yours to always make general sweeping statements yet can only provide cherry picked examples which don’t support your poutrage?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right
March 7th, 2013
8:29 pm
And I’ve apparently upset MarkV.
Mission accomplished!
Bruno
March 7th, 2013
8:47 pm
Looks like JamVet gave up the ghost here at Kyle’s.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BU_2oNF9CZE
breckenridge
March 7th, 2013
8:47 pm
“Based on the way the administration is crafting their policy here about the use of drones, you’ve got to be concerned that something you might say at a Tea Party would be used as an excuse to launched a drone strike against your house.” Bryan Fischer, American Family Association, 3-6-2013.
And you thought that was Santa coming down your chimney.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right
March 7th, 2013
8:50 pm
Curious, your hypothetical lacks one important parameter vs mine.
Constitutional legality.
Bruno
March 7th, 2013
8:51 pm
And for Ringo (josef):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1DWdexSO9M
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right
March 7th, 2013
8:54 pm
Josef is Ringo?
I thought he was Paul.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right
March 7th, 2013
8:56 pm
Or is he the Walrus?
breckenridge
March 7th, 2013
9:01 pm
“House Bill 999 mandates teaching abstinence-based sex education in all Mississippi public schools. A school district may decide to teach an “abstinence plus” curriculum — encouraging abstinence while providing information about contraception — but even in those cases, the bill bans demonstration of proper condom use.”
Because there is not nearly enough ignorance in Mississippi.
breckenridge
March 7th, 2013
9:02 pm
“HB 999 also allows a school to teach that homosexuality is prohibited by a section of the state legal code titled Unnatural Intercourse, which lists ‘crime against nature, with mankind or beast’ as a Class I felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.”
And the band plays “Oh I’m proud to be a republican.”
Bruno
March 7th, 2013
9:20 pm
Let us be lovers, we’ll marry our fortunes together…..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W773ZPJhcVw
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 7th, 2013
9:40 pm
breckenridge, if you have to rely on schools to teach you about sex, the war has already been lost.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 7th, 2013
10:00 pm
And the band plays “Oh I’m proud to be a republican.”
Thanks for letting us all know your sexual preferences lean towards the unnatural, with either beast or mankind. We sure do appreciate this information and are proud of you for your ability to “let it all hang out.” You are groovy. You run with the herd. How awesome! The ringleader tells you it’s OK to do sick things with what ever you can catch and/or wants to do sick things with you, and you’re like, where do I sign up?
Congratulations on outing yourself.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 7th, 2013
10:10 pm
Aesop, how does a person’s sexual behavior in the privacy of their own bedroom with another consenting adult affect your life, liberty or property in any way?
Please provide a serious, thoughtful answer rather than your usual knee-jerk one.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 7th, 2013
10:13 pm
I do sincerely apologize for not being on board with the whole mano on mano trend, and, unfortunately must report that I never will be on board with it, but I am willing to accept such conduct from others, as long as they consign themselves to a kennel or stall along with all the other animals.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 7th, 2013
10:14 pm
tibs – For one, this blog is open to the children. Stifle yourself.
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 7th, 2013
10:20 pm
Today’s Lesson for Confused Conservatives and/or Rino’s -
God created men and women so that they could reproduce offspring. Notice how well your reproductive system functions for this purpose. Notice how engaging your digestive tract does not function well for this purpose. No new citizens! No future taxpayers! Instead, what we have is a society of degenerates praying upon the productive class. Typical liberal mantra.
Thoughtful enough?
Aesop's Fables and other Lib Economic Theories
March 7th, 2013
10:21 pm
pardon me, “preying” upon…
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 7th, 2013
10:30 pm
Aesop, I doubt very much that children are reading Kyle’s blog.
Although they are certainly posting on it.
So you equate consensual sex between adults of the same sex to animals. Have any proof? Can animals freely give consent? No, they cannot. So your initial response fails the serious and thoughtful request I made.
Further you didn’t explain how the consensual acts between adult humans affects your life, liberty or property in any way, which is another failure in fulfilling my request.
Your problem is that you will never have a thoughtful answer to my questions, because you have no capability to think beyond your Bible.
breckenridge
March 7th, 2013
10:38 pm
“Thanks for letting us all know your sexual preferences lean towards the unnatural, with either beast or mankind. We sure do appreciate this information and are proud of you for your ability to “let it all hang out.”
No, actually I’m not gay. But I am an American who believes in the Constitution. And the Constitution forbids legislating religion, in this case filthy fundamentalist religion, or the belief that being gay is a sinful lifestyle. I don’t consider gay people immoral; they are just the way they are because of their genetic makeup, they’re not choosing a lifestyle God finds objective. But to ban gay marriage because the Bible says so? That is a traitorous act.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 7th, 2013
10:42 pm
“But to ban gay marriage because the Bible says so? That is a traitorous act.”
Really, breckenridge? Traitorous?
Unconstitutional, yes, but the hyperbole is just as bad from your side when you claim a traitorous act.
breckenridge
March 7th, 2013
10:45 pm
Aesop it’s also important to recognize a huge trend underway in America, a trend away from Christian fundamentalism in particular and Christianity in general. In 2006 15% of Americans were non-Christians; that number is currently at 21% and will be at 25% when the next presidential election is held. There also been a major trend away from belief in Biblical inerrancy that’s been ongoing for 30 years.
I bring this up simply because we really do need an effective two party political system in this country. But if this idiocy such as the legislators in Mississippi and all over south keeps being put forth the GOP is going to be irrelevant on a national basis. That’s why it is absolutely imperative the party dump the religious agenda and get back to being the party of fiscal conservatism.
MarkV
March 7th, 2013
10:52 pm
Tiberius @ 8:29 pm
“And I’ve apparently upset MarkV.”
Tiberius, congratulating himself on his delusion.
Truth teller
March 7th, 2013
10:52 pm
“But to ban gay marriage because the Bible says so? That is a traitorous act.”
We don’t ban gay marriage specifically because of what the Bible only says. We don’t have it more so because for 6,000 years of recorded human history across many cultures and other religions gay marriage was, is, and always will be a no no. Don’t try to pin it all on the bible sir.
And as for your statement that the constitution doesn’t legislate anything regarding religion that is phooey. The constitution makes a clear separation between church and state which is in of itself legislation concerning religion. And the courts regularly decide cases where religion is involved. Just ask the ACLU.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 7th, 2013
10:55 pm
“We don’t have it more so because for 6,000 years of recorded human history across many cultures and other religions gay marriage was, is, and always will be a no no.”
So our religion is just as ignorant and bigoted as every other religion?
Is this to be the new standard for legislation?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 7th, 2013
10:57 pm
MarkV proving my point once again.
And backing up my contention that children do post on Kyle’s blog.
breckenridge
March 7th, 2013
11:04 pm
“And as for your statement that the constitution doesn’t legislate anything regarding religion that is phooey. The constitution makes a clear separation between church and state which is in of itself legislation concerning religion.”
I have no idea what you’re talking about, that makes no sense at all.
The Constitution says two things about religion:
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” – 1st Amendment.
“No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.” Article 6, Paragraph 3.
Now back in early January of 1788 Connecticut held their Constitution ratification convention. On the 2nd day of the gathering a gentleman name William Williams got up and made a very passionate speech in which he said the Constitution MUST be changed to 1) Add a mention of God to the preamble and 2) Alter Article 6, Section 3 to say that only Christians can hold an elected office. After he finished the rest of the delegates basically told him to sit down and shut his stupid mouth. A few days later Connecticut overwhelmingly approved the Constitution.
td
March 7th, 2013
11:06 pm
“But to ban gay marriage because the Bible says so? That is a traitorous act.”
1: The bill of rights protects the government from interfering in religion it does not say the people should not bring their religious beliefs into government.
2: Apart from the bible, there is a valid state interest in protecting the current status of marriage. It is a proven fact that children raised in a traditional setting of marriage between a man and a women turn out to be much more productive normalized citizens. For the government to promote and advocate anything other then this norm is to undermine these goals of society.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 7th, 2013
11:15 pm
Your first point is absolutely correct, td.
It is your second point which doesn’t pass the smell test.
“It is a proven fact that children raised in a traditional setting of marriage between a man and a women turn out to be much more productive normalized citizens.”
I doubt that there are any serious, long-term studies which show this, given the fairly recent novelty of children being raised by gay parents. If you have a cite handy, I’d love to read it.
“For the government to promote and advocate anything other then this norm is to undermine these goals of society.”
No government should promote nor advocate anything, td. That is never a role of government. It should only allow, or not allow.
td
March 7th, 2013
11:26 pm
Tiberius – pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 7th, 2013
11:15 pm
“I doubt that there are any serious, long-term studies which show this”
There are not any long term studies that I am aware of either about gay couples raising children. What I was talking about is the long term studies that state that the best relationship to raise a child is in a loving relationship between the two birth parents of the children.
“No government should promote nor advocate anything, td. That is never a role of government. It should only allow, or not allow.”
The state advocates all types of things that they feel are in the best interest of the society as a whole. Examples: Seat belts, smoking. When one study after another states that the best way to raise children is in a two person marriage relationship then it is a valid state interest to promote such a relationship.
breckenridge
March 7th, 2013
11:26 pm
“It is a proven fact that children raised in a traditional setting of marriage between a man and a women turn out to be much more productive normalized citizens.”
The studies I’ve seen say no such thing. They do say that children raised in a stable household with two parents, regardless of sex, are better adjusted. Do they turn out to be more productive?
I’ve not seen that study but it’s certainly possible.
“The bill of rights protects the government from interfering in religion it does not say the people should not bring their religious beliefs into government.”
They are more than welcome to take their religious beliefs to Washington. What they cannot do is attempt to legislate those beliefs.
And furthermore…..suppose we were going to legislate religion in America. Would we legislate a literal interpretation of the Bible? 70% of Americans would be against that because they don’t believe the Bible is word for word true. Yes, I’ll suppose we’ll always be saddled with some scum sucking brain dead religious right maggots such as James Inhofe and Michele Bachmann, but their numbers will dwindle due the huge religious shift underway in America.
Lil' Barry Bailout - OBAMAPHONE!!!
March 7th, 2013
11:29 pm
Banning “gay marriage” is about as meaningful as banning cows jumping over the moon. So-called “gay marriage” is a physical impossibility because marriage can only be between a man and a woman.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 7th, 2013
11:31 pm
“There are not any long term studies that I am aware of either about gay couples raising children. What I was talking about is the long term studies that state that the best relationship to raise a child is in a loving relationship between the two birth parents of the children. ”
So if there are no long-term studies of children raised by gay couples, how can any long-term study of children raised with traditional parents show a more favorable outcome? What can you compare to if you have no comparison?
“The state advocates all types of things that they feel are in the best interest of the society as a whole. Examples: Seat belts, smoking. ”
Correct, but that doesn’t mean they SHOULD advocate, which is my point.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 7th, 2013
11:32 pm
“And furthermore…..suppose we were going to legislate religion in America.”
A hypothetical which will never happen, breckenridge. The Constitution won’t allow it.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
March 7th, 2013
11:33 pm
“So-called “gay marriage” is a physical impossibility because marriage can only be between a man and a woman.”
Why?
breckenridge
March 7th, 2013
11:40 pm
“So-called “gay marriage” is a physical impossibility because marriage can only be between a man and a woman.”
Why can a marriage only be between a man and a woman?
td
March 7th, 2013
11:41 pm
breckenridge
March 7th, 2013
11:26 pm
“They are more than welcome to take their religious beliefs to Washington. What they cannot do is attempt to legislate those beliefs.”
What is the world do you think any legislature does when they write a law? They bring their own set of mores and beliefs with them in formulating a law be it Christian, Muslim or secular humanist. For one to say that religious beliefs have no place in the law is just plain crazy or they are promoting secular humanism?